Help needed in defending the Volt in a newspaper article!

[montgom626]

I don't like Obama. I like my Volt. Your statement is a bit too obtuse.

I don't like the President either. I love my Volt. I am 100% into renewables. I am into carpooling, riding my bicycle to work (40 miles round trip), walking, recycling and reducing my carbon foot print. I have an 8KW solar array (see my avatar). I have solar water heater. I use gray water. I never water my lawn. I eat at home. I batch all my trips. I use the internet to pay my bills. I don't watch TV. I have R 60 insulation in my attic. I always wash my clothes in cold water. I use a clotheline to dry all my clothes. I returned 90% of my lawn back to native prairie grasses and I don't fertilize the small amount of remaining lawn. I mulch every time I mow my lawn. I have a bat house. I have 18 acres with nothing on it except natural vegetation. I have a 5 acre pond to catch run off and provide widelife with a refuge. All my lights are compact flourescents. I think all drugs should be legalized. I think the President has made a mess of things. We are still in Gitmo and, Afghanistan. We kill American citizens using drones without the right of trial or due process. We sent 2000 deadly weapons into Mexico during "fast and furious". One of these weapons killed a Border Patrol agent. No one cares in the current administration. The President does not care. He protects Eric Holder with executive privilege.

I love my Volt. I do not love the President. Sorry if this bursts anyones bubble.

[montgom626]

We assume it's subsidized, but yes. A complete replacement battery pack from your GM dealer costs $3k (some of the online sales parts dealers are down to $2200 in their online quotes.) There'd be some labor to replace it, of course, but I think it's only a couple of hours - it's designed to come apart and not nearly as involved as an engine or transmission change.

And with volume, the price will only come down in time. The future is bright. EREV like the Volt make the future even brighter.

[USe-car]

I don't like Obama. I like my Volt. Your statement is a bit too obtuse.

Didn't mean to offend anyone. I'm just posting what I read on other boards.

[daryllafferty]

If you can, please consider going to this article and help debunk the lies people are spreading about the Volt and GM.

I was looking at the comments on the article, and it looks to be well under control with the pro-Volt comments outnumbering the anti-Volts.

[oneborch]

ILoveMyYolt. Obama will not get my vote this time. Fool me once-but not twice.

[pjwood]

We assume it's subsidized, but yes. A complete replacement battery pack from your GM dealer costs $3k (some of the online sales parts dealers are down to $2200 in their online quotes.) There'd be some labor to replace it, of course, but I think it's only a couple of hours - it's designed to come apart and not nearly as involved as an engine or transmission change.

Sorry, I know we're going OT. A lot of people follow this stuff more closely:
http://evworld.com/news.cfm?zid=28219

If we take Mulally's word, from Ford, $600 per KWH would make the new Volt pack a $9,900 item. So, I agree the $3,000 may be unrealistic. The article does point to the possibility of newer costs being only $250/kwh, however. Checking my own notes on lithium costs, it doesn't sound like the price of lithium factors in much. I'm seeing "12-19" kilos per average EV (whatever that means), and projections that have lithium rising to $1,000 per ton. For whatever else is inside, it doesn't sound like the lithium costs $20 bucks?

Does anyone remember CD's coming out? Audiophiles were told "there are only a few factories in the world making them". That's how $5 albums became $15 CDs. I'm starting to think Ford "mailed it in", with the latecomer status and criticisms the Focus EV has gotten (space, etc). Maybe the "$600" quote was part of a Mulallay hedging strategy.

[flmark]

ILoveMyYolt. Obama will not get my vote this time. Fool me once-but not twice.

In our predominantly two party system, the guy from the other party states that the Volt is an idea whose time has not yet come. Unless you want to waste your Volt (er, vote), the lesser of the two evils must be selected.

[KyleH]

Interesting article. Maybe GM will be getting some $$$ back as part of their strategy when components gets cheaper. Maybe it will give the dealerships to get off their duffs and sell more Volts.

I wonder if the $3k cost assumes that they get to keep the original battery. Maybe the components can be recycled into new batteries--I am not sure, I'm not familar in the manfuacturing process.

However, I know that when you buy a new battery, you put down a hefty deposit such that you return the previous one for recylcing. I am not sure if the fee is just to deter you from not returning it, or if used batteries contains some value.

-KyleH

Sorry, I know we're going OT. A lot of people follow this stuff more closely:
http://evworld.com/news.cfm?zid=28219
...
If we take Mulally's word, from Ford, $600 per KWH would make the new Volt pack a $9,900 item. So, I agree the $3,000 may be unrealistic.
...